Subject-specific instructional methods and activities

This volume explores the tension between the search for generic principles of good teaching that cut across school subjects and the belief that portrayals of best practices ought to be framed separately for each subject.

Abstract

This volume explores the tension between the search for generic principles of good teaching that cut across school subjects and the belief that portrayals of best practices ought to be framed separately for each subject. Its contributors all favor teaching in ways that encourage students to learn each subject with understanding of its big ideas, appreciation of its value, and acquisition of the disposition to apply it in their lives outside of school. They consider curricular, instructional, and assessment aspects of best practices that foster this kind of learning in fourteen school subjects, focusing on instructional methods and learning activities. In the introduction, Editor Jere Brophy presents twelve generic guidelines for good teaching that he believes represent current consensus about best practices that should be applicable to any school subject.